


Confrontation

by decrescendo



Series: Missing Scenes [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Canon Compliant, Dubious Morality, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Missing Scene, POV Minerva McGonagall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 18:52:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11834895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decrescendo/pseuds/decrescendo
Summary: When Harry shows up at Hogwarts showing clear signs of abuse, Professor McGonagall confronts Dumbledore about his decision to place him in the Dursleys' care.





	Confrontation

 For the first time in her life, Minerva did not knock before entering the headmaster’s study. Instead, she barged right in, throwing the door open so hard that it hit the wall with a crash and bounced back. Before Dumbledore could even open his mouth, she snapped, “You know why I’m here.”

He merely looked solemnly up at her and said calmly, “I’m afraid you will have to enlighten me.”

“You promised me – you _swore_ to me – _you said he was safe!_ ” she spluttered. Somewhere, dimly, she registered that she was behaving entirely inappropriately, but found that she did not care in the slightest.  

“And so he is,” said Dumbledore. “I have kept my promise.”

He continued to regard her with an expression of almost detached calm and she swallowed down a fierce impulse to rush at him, to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, to scream at him until she could _make him understand…._ “He is a _child_ , Albus,” she said, aware that her voice was shaking with fury. “That he has not yet been murdered is hardly a strong indication of his wellbeing.”

Dumbledore shook his head. “Ah, Minerva,” he said, “you are forgetting that he is a child in far more danger than any other in our world. That he lives at all is, I think, a great accomplishment.”

“An accomplishment!” she shrieked. “Have you seen how _small_ he is, Albus? How thin?”

“He takes after Lily. She was, as I recall, always quite small.”

Minerva lifted her hands uselessly, as if there was something she could do, some simple action she could perform, to make this situation disappear. “They aren’t feeding him,” she said. “He isn’t slim, Albus, he’s _starved._ ”

“I daresay the Hogwarts fare will do him good, then. There will be no lasting harm.”

“He is being abused by those people,” she snapped. “They don’t love him. They don’t treat him right. You cannot convince me that you are so utterly _clueless_ that you do not see the signs.”

His undisturbed gaze did not waver as he said, “I have a plan in place to ensure Harry’s wellbeing. That he lives with his aunt and uncle is an unavoidable component.”

“Yes,” said Minerva, “because no one has ever been hurt for the sake of your _plans_ , have they?”

Dumbledore stood suddenly from his chair and she knew instantly that she had crossed a line – but rather than any remorse, she felt only a savage pleasure at finally having shaken him from his cool demeanor. When he spoke, though, she realized that she had misread his reaction: there was none of the cold fury she had expected. Instead, his façade of indifference slipped to reveal a look of profound grief as he said heavily, “Do you think this does not pain me, too, Minerva?”

The sudden change of tone shocked her into silence.

“Do you think it doesn’t bother me, to leave him with his aunt and uncle? Not a day had gone by these ten years that I have not wished things could be different. I am not heartless, Minerva. But there are things you do not know. Things you do not understand.”

Minerva could remember a time when she had been impressed by the riddles he spoke in, intrigued by his enigmatic nature. Now, though, she felt only frustration. “Enlighten me, then,” she said coldly.

Dumbledore sat back down and paused a long moment before responding. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “You know that he was protected that night by Lily’s sacrifice,” said Dumbledore. “That he lives only because she died to save him. You know also that Voldemort is not gone forever. He is still out there, somewhere, a reality which puts Harry in consider danger.”

“Yes,” she said impatiently. “But surely –”

“– there are better ways of protecting him than hiding him away? Of course. But the protection offered by his aunt and uncle has little to do with their being Muggles. When Lily died for Harry –”

“– her selfless act of love created a bond so powerful that no act of Dark magic could penetrate it,” she recited. “I know this already, Albus.” _Even,_ she could not help adding to herself, _if I think your blind trust in the power of Love is a little naïve._

He inclined his head and she got the sense that he knew precisely what she had refrained from saying. “That protection did not apply only on the night when Lily and James were killed,” he said.

“If he is protected still, then surely he does not need to be kept with those people! Surely he can be just as safe somewhere else, somewhere he can be loved and cared for and _happy_ –”

“ _No,_ ” said Dumbledore firmly. “Lily’s sacrifice is an old branch of magic, more powerful than anything we teach here. It did not act simply as a shield before Harry that night. It dwells within him. He carries it within his very blood.”

“For God’s sake, Albus,” snapped Minerva. “What is your point?”

“Harry is protected only while he calls home a place where Lily’s blood lingers,” he said simply.

His words hung in the air for a while as Minerva processed their meaning. For the first time since entering his office, she wavered in her absolute conviction that Dumbledore was entirely to blame. Finally she asked, though she already knew the answer, “Who else knows this?”

“Only us.”

Her anger surged back as quickly as it had abated. “How can you be so arrogant? Did you not think – even for a _minute_ – that you could be wrong about this? Did you never entertain that possibility?” She plowed on without giving him a chance to respond. “You have no right to make decisions like this alone. What if you _were_ wrong, Albus, and you had condemned a little boy to ten year’s abuse without any good reason at all?”

“It is despicable,” said Dumbledore quietly. “I know it is. I will never be able to forgive myself, knowing the suffering Harry has already had to endure. But you must understand, Minerva…”

He trailed off, looking up at her almost imploringly. Minerva stared at him: she had never before seen him at a loss for words, and she had certainly never seen such an expression on his wizened face. She became aware suddenly that she was still standing. Her anger had propelled her forward and she was close enough that she could have reached out and touched him across the desk.

“There was no choice,” he finished eventually. “Lily had no other family. Even if her blood _wasn’t_ necessary to protect him, where would he have gone?”

“Surely they had made other arrangements, just in case,” said Minerva, but without conviction. She knew as well as Dumbledore that the “other arrangement” had been the one to sell out the Potters in the first place, and Remus, who she assumed had been the second choice, would never have been allowed to take custody of a child.

For one wild, fleeting moment she imagined a world in which she herself could have taken the boy in.

“This is for the best,” said Dumbledore gently. “I know it’s not a very good best. But it is what it is.”

Minerva still wanted to argue. _How_ could _you?_ she wanted to cry. _How could you do this to Lily and James’ son?_ The fury at his willingness to sacrifice Harry’s wellbeing even for his physical safety still bubbled inside her – but she knew, just as she had known on Halloween night ten years previously, that Dumbledore would not be shaken from his position.

“I have lessons to prepare,” she said shortly. On her way out of his office, she slammed the door just as loudly as she had upon entering.

 


End file.
